Recycling to Stop E-waste | Kady McKenna | TEDxYouth@ElliotStreet
Summary
TLDRThe speaker recounts their personal journey with electronic devices, highlighting the growing issue of e-waste. They founded e-treasure Incorporated, a non-profit aiming to recycle, refurbish, and redistribute electronic devices, reducing environmental impact. The script also addresses the global health crisis caused by improper e-waste disposal, particularly in impoverished nations, and introduces the e-treasure school leaders program to bridge the digital divide and empower students through technology.
Takeaways
- 📱 The speaker has owned 13 electronic devices since their first one, emphasizing the prevalence of technology in modern life.
- 👶 Born in 2009, the speaker received their first iPad before their first birthday, highlighting the early integration of electronics in children's lives.
- 📚 The average U.S. household has over 25 connected devices, according to Deloitte's Mobile Connectivity Trends survey 2021, illustrating the ubiquity of electronics.
- 🗑 E-Waste is identified as the fastest-growing waste problem globally, with over 50 million tons generated annually, equivalent to 1,000 laptops per second.
- 💡 The idea for e-treasure, Incorporated was sparked by a realization about the environmental impact of discarded electronics and the lack of action to address it.
- 🌐 e-treasure, Incorporated is a 501c3 non-profit organization aimed at recycling, refurbishing, and redistributing electronic devices to reduce e-waste.
- 🏫 The speaker initiated collection drives at schools and created online platforms to gather donations of old electronic devices for recycling.
- 🔒 The importance of securely erasing personal information from recycled devices is emphasized, with certified electronics recyclers ensuring data privacy.
- ♻️ The script discusses the harmful effects of improper e-waste recycling, including the exposure of workers to toxic chemicals and the environmental impact.
- 🌍 It points out the issue of developed countries illegally shipping e-waste to impoverished nations, causing severe health and environmental crises.
- 📚 The e-treasure school leaders program encourages students to start collection drives at their schools, promoting environmental awareness and community service.
- 🔗 The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the digital divide, with e-treasure, Incorporated's efforts aiming to bridge this gap by providing devices for online learning.
Q & A
How many electronic devices has the speaker personally owned since their first?
-The speaker has personally owned 13 electronic devices since their first.
What was the first electronic device the speaker received as a gift?
-The first electronic device the speaker received was an iPad for Christmas when they were less than a year old.
What is the average number of connected devices per U.S. household according to Deloitte's Mobile Connectivity Trends survey 2021?
-The average U.S. household holds over 25 connected devices and more than two TVs.
What is the term used for discarded electronic devices?
-Discarded electronic devices are referred to as E-Waste or electronic waste.
How does the Environmental Protection Agency describe the growth rate of E-Waste globally?
-The Environmental Protection Agency states that E-Waste is the fastest-growing waste problem in the world.
What is the approximate annual generation of E-Waste in tons, according to the EPA?
-People generate over 50 million tons of E-Waste every year.
What is the estimated worth of the E-Waste generated annually?
-The annual E-Waste is approximately worth between 300,000 to 3 million US dollars.
What inspired the speaker to start thinking about the issue of E-Waste?
-The speaker was inspired to think about E-Waste while discussing resource use wisely during a Girl Scouts meeting when they were six years old.
What is the name of the non-profit organization the speaker started to address E-Waste?
-The non-profit organization the speaker started is called e-treasure Incorporated.
What is the main goal of e-treasure Incorporated?
-The main goal of e-treasure Incorporated is to recycle, refurbish, and redistribute electronic devices back into the community to keep the environment free of E-Waste.
What is the average time a cell phone user in the U.S. upgrades their phone according to CEO Today?
-The average cell phone user in the U.S. upgrades their phone every 22 months.
What is the e-treasure school leaders program and what is its purpose?
-The e-treasure school leaders program is an initiative to encourage students to start collection drives at their schools, aiming to make a measurable impact on the environment and bridge the digital divide.
How does the speaker suggest we can turn e-trash into e-treasure?
-The speaker suggests that by recycling, refurbishing, and redistributing electronic devices, we can turn e-trash into e-treasure that can change lives and help bridge the digital divide.
What is the digital divide and why is it significant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic?
-The digital divide refers to the socio-economic gap between populations with unequal access to digital connectivity. It is significant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic because it highlights the disparity in access to online learning and digital resources.
Outlines
📱 The Impact of E-Waste on Society and Environment
The speaker recounts their personal experience with electronic devices, highlighting the rapid growth of e-waste as a global issue. They mention their first encounter with an iPad as a child and the subsequent accumulation of electronic devices, leading to the realization of the scale of e-waste. The Environmental Protection Agency is cited to emphasize the urgency of e-waste, which is described as the fastest-growing waste problem worldwide. The narrative introduces the concept of e-treasure, Inc., a non-profit organization aimed at recycling, refurbishing, and redistributing electronic devices to mitigate e-waste. The speaker's initiative to collect e-waste through school drives and the importance of certified electronics recyclers in securely erasing personal data and responsibly managing e-waste are also discussed.
🌏 Addressing the E-Waste Challenge and Its Global Impact
This paragraph delves into the specifics of e-waste collection and the subsequent steps taken by the speaker to sort and log the collected items. It addresses common concerns about personal data security during the recycling process and the importance of using certified electronics recyclers. The paragraph also touches on the hazardous materials found in electronic devices and the negative environmental and health impacts of improper e-waste disposal, particularly in impoverished nations. The speaker describes the conditions in e-waste dumps and the plight of child laborers involved in e-waste recycling, emphasizing the need for global action to prevent further harm. The e-treasure school leaders program is introduced as an initiative to engage students in e-waste collection and raise awareness about the issue.
🌐 Bridging the Digital Divide Through E-Waste Recycling
The final paragraph focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digital divide, highlighting the unequal access to digital devices for education. The speaker argues that recycling e-waste can help bridge this gap by providing devices to students in need. They call for collective action to transform e-trash into e-treasure, thereby promoting digital connectivity and educational equity. The speaker concludes with a call to action, encouraging individuals to consider the potential of their discarded devices to make a positive change in the world by supporting e-waste recycling initiatives.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡E-Waste
💡Connected Devices
💡Environmental Regulation
💡Recycling
💡Refurbish
💡Digital Divide
💡Non-Profit
💡Collection Drive
💡Personal Information
💡Poisonous Chemicals
💡Global Health Crisis
Highlights
The speaker has personally owned 13 electronic devices since their first one.
The average U.S. household holds over 25 connected devices and more than two TVs.
E-Waste is the fastest-growing waste problem globally, with over 50 million tons generated annually.
E-Waste is worth between 300,000 to 3 million US dollars annually.
The speaker's initiative began at the age of six with a focus on recycling and resource conservation.
E-Treasure, Incorporated is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded by the speaker to address e-waste.
The organization recycles, refurbishes, and redistributes electronic devices to reduce e-waste.
The speaker collected e-waste by starting collection drives at schools and through social media.
Devices collected were often not old, reflecting the average U.S. cell phone upgrade cycle of every 22 months.
E-Treasure sorts and logs all collected items, ensuring personal data is erased by certified recyclers.
Consumer electronics contain hazardous chemicals and minerals, posing risks to global recycling workers.
Wealthy nations are accused of illegally shipping e-waste to impoverished nations, causing environmental and health crises.
The e-Treasure School Leaders program encourages students to start collection drives and earn service hours.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the digital divide, with over 11 million U.S. students lacking devices for online learning.
The speaker emphasizes turning e-trash into e-treasure to bridge the digital divide and provide educational access.
A call to action for individuals to consider the impact of their electronic devices and the potential for repurpose.
The speech concludes with a message of community empowerment and environmental preservation.
Transcripts
foreign
[Applause]
[Music]
think about it how many electronic
devices have you personally owned since
you're first for me the number is 13.
I love my phone and other devices such
as my laptop TV and my iPad
they keep me connected to my friends
my social network and the World At Large
I have practically grown up with a
device since birth
now I was born in 2009 and before I was
a year old I received my first iPad for
Christmas
when I was two I received a Hello Kitty
TV DVD combo
and by the time I was three I had broken
my first iPad and inherited two passed
down from my parents after they had
upgraded theirs
the following Christmas I received a
different brand of tablet now that may
sound a little excessive but that is
five electronic devices that I
personally used before the age of four
did you know that according to
deloitte's mobile connectivity Trends
survey 2021 that the average U.S
household holds over 25 connected
devices and more than two TVs
so that begs the question
what happens to all of this stuff after
it breaks well
there's a name for it
E-Waste E-Waste or electronic waste the
afterlife of our cell phone's laptop
tablets and other consumer electronic
devices after they've been tossed in the
trash and as you've probably guessed by
now there is a lot of it
according to the EPA the Environmental
Protection Agency the federal agency in
charge of development and enforcement of
environmental regulation States
that E-Waste is the fastest growing
waste problem in the entire world
people generate over 50 million tons of
this waste every single year
which is equivalent to throwing away 1
000 laptops every second
and is approximately worth 300 000 to 3
million US dollars
now when I was four years old I wasn't
really worried about you waste I was
more worried about not dropping my iPad
and breaking it again
but
by the time I was six
I was a girl scout daisy learning about
all the ways I can make the world a
better place
as a matter of fact one day in March
2015 I was driving home in the car with
my mom who also happened to be my troop
leader
we were both thinking hard about the
lesson that we had learned that day in
our meeting
the topic of the day was using resources
wisely we learned about recycling paper
and plastic
but
as my tiny year old as my tiny
six-year-old hands gripped my iPad
a thought popping to my head
where do all of old iPads go when they
break
where do you keep your old electronics
my mom answered my question by telling
me that we normally just shove this
stuff into a kitchen drawer in our home
were eventually that drawer get full and
we would just throw these devices in the
trash they would ultimately end up in a
landfill
who knows what a landfill is with a show
of hands
a landfill
is a large mound of dirt and trash
churned into the Earth to help the
decomposition of the waste
and that's when I had the thought that
would change my life
was I the only one thinking about this
issue
was anybody else doing anything to stop
this
unfortunately the answer was no that
moment was the beginning of e-treasure
Incorporated
e treasure Incorporated is the 501c3
non-profit charitable organization
that I started off of the idea
that rather than throwing our consumer
electronic devices away
we can recycle refurbish and
redistribute these devices back into our
community and keep our environment free
of e-waste
I immediately went to work
first I purchased some large plastic
bins
to begin collecting E-Waste I started
collection drives at my school and other
schools around the area
second my mom helped me create a
Facebook page and website and we started
asking everyone I knew to donate their
old broken and unwanted electronic
devices to the collection drives that I
was hosting
at first I was even surprised to see
that a lot of the devices I was
collecting were not even that old did
you know that according to CEO today the
average cell phone user in the U.S
upgrades their cell phone every 22
months I mean you know the drill the
newest fanciest cell phone comes out and
people start lining up for the upgrade
but my collection Drive was a huge
success
I collected computers printers TVs I
think I even collected an old school
alarm clock but
all sorts of electronics you name it I
collected it
The Next Step was to sort these
Electronics
I first put all the phones in one bin
all the laptops and computers into
another and so on
The Next Step was to log these items I
made sure to log the brand and weight of
each of the items that I collected to
carefully track my progress
now the most commonly question that I'm
asked by donors is
you're going to erase all of my personal
information off of this right
well
the answer is yes but I began
researching certified Electronics
recyclers in my area
the epa's list of certified Electronics
recyclers includes only the most
responsible recyclers in charge of
managing unwanted e-waste
this includes erasing any and all
personal information that may be left on
these devices by first isolating all
hard drives and cell phones into a scrub
room before being sent out for
dismantling and recycling of these
Electronics
yeah
now our beloved consumer electronics
contain poisonous amounts of chemicals
and minerals
this may not be harmful to me and U.S
consumers but it is very harmful to the
people who are recycling these and this
is happening all over the world right
now according to the UN a cathode ray
tube TV the type of TVs used before flat
screens were invented
can contain up to eight pounds of lead
according to the Washington Post
the guardian CNN and many other news
outlets
wealthy industrialized nations
specifically in North America and Europe
are illegally shipping their unwanted
E-Waste to impoverish Nations around the
world such as Ghana Nigeria and parts of
China India and Pakistan
in Ghana's capital city which used to be
a lush manga of swamp
is now home to one of the world's
largest E-Waste dumps
every single day
young workers weighed through the Sea of
electronics searching for gold copper
and other minerals that they can melt
down and sell
the plastic sheath on wires is often
burned off causing a putrid toxic cloud
above these dumps
the World Health Organization has made a
global call for help to stop this Global
Health crisis as over 18 million
children are actively working in or
living near these dump sites
young children are often preferred in
E-Waste recycling because they're small
hands can pick out the minerals in these
devices much easier than mine and yours
even if the child is healthy
the pollution that this waste is causing
to our air ground and Water Supplies can
permanently damage their organs and
overall personal development
now
ever since I started e-treasure
Incorporated my goal has always been to
make a measurable impact on the
environment that is why I started the
e-treasure school leaders program
to encourage students to start
collection drives at their own schools
while earning their required service
hours and you can do it too
since each treasure has been a part of
my life since I was just six years old
I do not think the work that I do and
the work that we can do together has
ever been more important than it is now
the covid-19 pandemic shined a light on
the digital divide
the digital divide is the socio-economic
gap
between the populations unequal access
to digital connectivity
according to research at Stanford
University over 11 million students in
the U.S go without a device for online
learning
technology changes the educational
experience for a student and makes them
feel connected and empowered as they
learn
by turning e-trash into e-rezure we can
create a world where digital
connectivity is the norm and all
students have access to the devices that
they need to learn and thrive
so
the next time that you glance down at
your tablet
you power on your computer
and you turn on your TV
I ask you to think to yourself
are you going to throw this device away
when you no longer want or need it
or
will you turn your very own e-trash into
an e-treasure that can possibly be
rediscovered and change a life
by working together
we can help the community
and save our planet
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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